Alan Golds appealing beer board suspension

Alan Goldshas filed a petition to appeal its beer license suspension from the Chattanooga Beer and Wrecker Board.

City Attorney Keith Reisman said the board was not aware that Alan Golds was going to appeal the suspension.

On May 4, the beer board voted 5-2 to suspend the license for 14 days following a failure to report a fight in the bar that led to one person being hospitalized. That suspension was slated to begin May 18. Read more about thathere.

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Alan Golds has hired attorney Johnny D. Houston Jr. of Houston & Alexander PLLC to appeal the suspension. Houston filed a petition of appeal May 8 in the Hamilton County Chancery Court.

The petition states that “the action of [the beer board] was capricious, arbitrary, unlawful, and without substantial and material evidence supporting it.”

Houston is arguing the validity and severity of the suspension, according to the petition.

“The petition was supposed to be for a 14-day period, yet the order reflects a 15-day period,” according to the petition. “[The beer board] imposed this suspension despite [the fact that Alan Golds] has not had a violation in 28 years.”

Reisman said the order is written in a way that all 14 days of the suspension are served.

“We start the suspension at 8 a.m. on the first day and end it at 3 a.m. on the last day,” he said. “The day, as far as beer goes, runs from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m.; this way, the entire suspension is served.”

“You can’t help but wonder if it has to do with the fact that it’s thought of as a gay club … even though a lot of nongay customers go there,” Houston said, according to the TFP.

Reisman said the board was only concerned with the violation.

“That issue never came up,” he said. “The beer board really thinks it’s important for these establishments to call the police right away when there’s a disorder.”

At today’s beer board, Glass Street Lounge appeared for the same violation. It only received a 12-day suspension. Click here to read that story.

Alan Golds’ appeal means it is allowed to keep selling beer until the case is settled in court. No court date has yet been set.

Alan Golds’ attorney, Johnny Houston, could not be reached.

Eric Wise is a contributing writer. He is currently attending UTC, where he is a staff writer for the school newspaper, The University Echo. He also serves as the alumni relations chairman for his fraternity.